EL PASO, Texas – Jacksonville State volleyball makes its first conference road trip as a member of Conference USA this week as the Gamecocks head west for two matches at UTEP. The matches at Memorial Gym in El Paso, Texas, will begin at 7 p.m. CT Thursday and 1 p.m. Saturday.
 
Jax State (4-8, 2-0) rolled to consecutive CUSA sweeps of Sam Houston last weekend. They drubbed the Bearkats, 3-0, behind an unreal performance from Ellie Garrett on Friday night, then swept the visitors from Huntsville, Texas, the following afternoon after Hana Aiana and Morgan McClure combined for 26 kills and seven blocks. After a solid opening to the season's second half, two Gamecocks came away with league honors on Monday as Garrett was named the Conference USA Setter of the Week and Aiana was deemed the CUSA Freshman of the Week.
 
"Hana is a young middle, so Freshman of the Week honors is amazing for her," head coach Derek Schroeder said. "I'm very proud of her, but we have to pass the ball well and set the ball well in order for her to be successful, so great job by everyone in that regard. Ellie is starting to learn and see the game the way I see it. Because of that, she had a very successful weekend. I'm really excited about her moving forward because she's really just scratching the surface of how good she could be."
 
Maddie Stayer (93 kills) and Kaylee Moseley (88 kills) still lead the team's offensive charge, but sophomore Morgan McClure (81 kills) has continued to produce down the stretch. The Canton, Ga., native has a team-best 36 blocks on the season and ranks eighth in CUSA with 0.92 blocks per set. And tenth with a hitting percentage of .316. Clarke Adams, who returned from injury last weekend versus Sam Houston, has 78 kills in 23 sets, good enough for an average of 3.39 kills per set which is third-best in Conference USA. Garrett's 9.92 assists per set are also towards the top of the league and sit fifth entering the second weekend of conference play. Furthermore, Gracie Danziger has the tenth-most digs per set (3.00) of any CUSA defender. Jacksonville State will try to put up more impressive numbers this weekend against a healthy UTEP program.
 
"Those (wins) felt great, mostly because we found who we are and we drove after that identity as hard as we could," Schroeder said. "It was partially things just 'clicking,' but it was everybody doing their job very well. We've been stressing purposeful contacts. So, yes, our offense clicked, but it wasn't just that our hitters were amazing. Ellie had a great weekend and my affectionately-called 'back row rats' were amazing."
 
The Miners (8-5, 0-2) dropped both of their matches last weekend at Western Kentucky. They took one set from the 25^th-ranked Hilltoppers in Bowling Green, Ky., on Friday, then fell in straight sets on Saturday afternoon. UTEP opened the year, however, with a five-set win over previously ranked Washington and have also downed tough opponents in Ohio, San Francisco, and Tulane. Ben Wallis' experienced squad will aim to end a three-match losing streak on Thursday evening in their first home contest of the CUSA slate.
 
UTEP boasts a strong defense led by middle blockers Danika Washington and Kaya Weaver. The 5-foot-11 junior and the 6-foot-2 sophomore rank third and second in the league respectively in blocks per set with 1.19 and 1.10. As a team, the Miners average 2.45 blocks per set, which is the second-most of anybody in the nine-team league. Their 125 total blocks in 2023 trails only Western Kentucky, who currently has 125.5.
 
"We're looking at UTEP as a big, physical team that, when they're in system, will be very hard for us," Schroeder said. "We'll do some things in both lines of defense to see if we can't make life difficult on them. Going on the road and winning the first-contact battle is never easy, so that's the challenge for our servers and serve-receivers. It's going to be my small, aggressive, fun team against them, David and Goliath style."
 
Thursday's meeting in the Lone Star State will mark the first ever meeting between UTEP, an historical Conference USA power, and the Gamecocks. Fans unable to attend can stream each of this weekend's matches on ESPN+.
 
Links to watch or follow along with live stats for either match will be provided at JaxStateSports.com. In addition, score updates will be posted on Jax State Volleyball's X account (@JaxStateVB).
 
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their X (@JaxStateVB), Instagram (@JaxStateVB), and Facebook (Jacksonville State Volleyball) accounts.